


Code of Honor

by KyokoUchiha



Series: Episode Tags - Fix-its [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Episode Tag, M/M, SPOILER for s04 e01, What-If, some low-key Klance for my aching heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-13
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2019-01-16 19:57:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12349599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KyokoUchiha/pseuds/KyokoUchiha
Summary: ** His vision goes blurry, the pain spreading from his side across his whole body. He needs… help.Suddenly there’s another presence in his mind, gently prodding, but steadily coming closer. He knows it. When he opens his eyes, he makes out Red flying towards him. A small smile tucks at his lips as he waits for his lion to save him yet again.No. It’s not his lion anymore. It’s Lance’s. He’s the pilot of Red now. Yet she still came to his rescue. Does that mean their bond is still strong, even if he’s not the red paladin anymore? **––When Keith’s mission gets blown apart, the red lion responds to her former paladin's distress. Lance piloting her flies out of the show to rescue his leader.-–What should have happened in s04e01





	Code of Honor

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: SEASON 4 SPOILER!!!
> 
> If you haven’t watched s04e01 yet, I highly suggest you should watch it first. It makes more sense that way.  
> Soo, the only advantage of being sick again (within a short amount of time) is that I got to watch season 4 right away… which sadly didn’t get me to feel better. NO Klance bonding moments dammit! What the quiznak! I’m devastated beyond belief. 
> 
> Right after watching episode 1 I thought, no, I don’t like this episode. I want the red lion to rescue Keith, I want a talk between Lance and Keith before he leaves the team. So here I am. Writing something to soothe my aching heart, which got ripped open again after getting my hopes up after season 3. Dang. 
> 
> I want the next season, with Lance and Keith, pronto ✧*。ヾ(｡>﹏<｡)ﾉﾞ✧*。
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoy (´∀｀)♡  
> I took some liberties within the scenes and the dialogue that happened in the show. Have mercy :3

“The ship’s a decoy! Everyone out! _Now_ ”, booms Kolivan’s voice over the blaring of the detonation signal. 

Keith is standing by his side, eyes trained on the fellow member of the Blade, who’s still standing at the operating panel, trying and failing to override their system. “Regris, c’mon, there’s not enough time!“, he shouts back, desperately hoping that the stubborn idiot follows the command of their leader.

“Just a few more ticks, I can manage it!”, Regris shouts back, hands hastily typing on the panel. Keith knows that it’s a futile attempt.

“We don’t have more time”, Kolivan tells Keith, turning towards the door.

“Not without him!”, Keith shouts, legs already moving automatically in the direction of his teammate. But Kolivan is faster; his hand gets a hold of his collar and he hauls Keith through the door, before following himself. Keith’s body connects with the floor, before he scrambles up to move back, but he just gets a glimpse of the back of Regris before the door slides closed for good.

He wants to turn around to voice a complaint, but the explosion of the ship cuts him off.

**

When he comes to, he finds himself between the wreckage of the ship, head ringing, vision blurry for the first few ticks. It’s a miracle that he made it through. Regris on the other hand had no such luck. 

“Anyone?”, he calls, but the answering static noise reveals that the communicator is broken. His eyes scan his surroundings, taking note of the destroyed parts around him. He can’t see their ship from this position, a major wreckage is blocking his vision. Grabbing his blade, he throws it towards the part, wincing when pain shoots across his left side. His suit is damaged, skin cut, bleeding. He needs to get to their ship fast. 

With one hand covering his injury, he pulls at the rope connected to his blade and lets himself be pulled towards the big part. Over the edge he can see their ship, it’s far away but he can manage it, _has to._ He won’t die today.

Overcoming the distance without a jetpack is hard, but he manages with jumping from one part to the other. Until he’s hit by one. His head hurts and he thinks his wrist is bruised after protecting his head from the collision. But he won’t give up.

Then he gets hit by another one at his back. And another. His vision goes blurry, the pain spreading from his side across his whole body. He needs… help.

Suddenly there’s another presence in his mind, gently prodding, but steadily coming closer. He knows it. When he opens his eyes, he makes out Red flying towards him. A small smile tucks at his lips as he waits for his lion to save him yet again. 

 _No._ It’s not his lion anymore. It’s Lance’s. He’s the pilot of Red now. Yet she still came to his rescue. Does that mean their bond is still strong, even if he’s not the red paladin anymore?

“Hey buddy, you okay? That was a close call”, Lance’s voice disrupts his train of thought as soon as he’s lying in Red’s cockpit. “Red suddenly took over control. She just kept projecting your face into my mind.”

He stems his hands onto the ground to push himself up into a sitting position so he can rest his back against the wall. The wound on his side is still aching and his left wrist is throbbing, but for the moment he just focuses on getting air back into his lungs. 

Lance is turning in his seat to graze him with a concerned look. Then he sees the wound. “Quiznak, you’re hurt.” Ticks later he’s kneeling in front of Keith with a first aid kit by his side. “Let me patch you up. We’ll get you to the castle right away.” 

“No”, Keith mumbles between gulps of air. “I need to get to the ship.”

He can see Lance pursing his lips in disapproval behind the visor of his helmet. “What you need is a healing pod.” 

Keith wants to slap his hand away, but cringes when moving it hurts. He rests his injured wrist in his lap before it can make contact with Lance’s hand. For the moment he lets the paladin do his work on his wound. 

Blue eyes are trained on the fingers working with nimble care at patching up the wound when the awaited question comes, “What happened? Red didn’t sense any attackers.”

“It was a decoy. We barely made it out before the ship exploded.” He thinks back to Regris. “We lost a member.” _I could’ve rescued him if Kolivan hadn’t pulled me out_ , his mind clings to the thought. But he also knows that he’d share his fate if not for Kolivan.

“What about Kolivan?” Lance asks.

Keith shrugs, and regrets it the next tick. His body aches all over from the collisions with the wreckage of the ship. “I need to get onto the ship to find out. _Now_ ”, he tells him again. Why can’t he understand that he can’t go back to the castle yet?

Lance’s eyes meet his gaze as he finishes icing the wound with a spray. It will keep the wound closed for the moment. “ _Fine._ But promise me that you will return to the castle as soon as possible. You can’t fight with your injured wrist,” he tells him with a deadpan voice, gesturing to the wrist in Keith’s lap, before he stands up and returns to his seat to operate Red into heading toward the Blade’s ship. 

Keith can’t help but feel a little guilty at acting this hostile towards his teammate. Not rival, but _friend_. His right hand man. His eyes drop to his lap as he takes a deep breath. Pushing the guilt back, he lets Red’s soothing presence engulf his mind for a few ticks. “Thanks”, he voices, both aloud and in his mind.

He feels rather than hears Lance’s reply, “Any time.”

**

**

Their mission was a success. But Voltron nearly didn’t make it if not for Shiro reestablishing his bond with the black lion. Which is good, because Shiro’s the rightful leader of Voltron, not him. So telling his team that he’ll join the Blade was the right thing to do. 

Luckily he hasn’t got much stuff he can pack, so it takes only a few doboshes before he’s finished. 

They already exchanged goodbyes therefore he’s not prepared to face Lance, standing at the opposite wall, as he exits his room. The other boy’s eyes are cast downward, hands buried in the pockets of his jacket. “I thought I made myself clear”, Keith starts the conversation. He doesn’t want another lecture from a disappointed teammate.

A small exhale leaves Lance’s lips before he finally meets his gaze. He looks serious. “That’s it? You just abandon us, your team.” 

Keith stifles the groan forming on his lips. “I’m not abandoning you, Lance. But right now I’m more useful while working with the Blade.”

“What about the progress we made over the last weeks. We were a great team. You were getting good at being our leader.”

“You have Shiro. He’s a greater leader than I ever can be. I’m… not cut out for it.” _I’m too impulsive. I put the team in danger._ The look on Lance’s face changes from serious to sad. “We don’t have the same priorities anymore.” They are focused on the coalition, but finding Lotor is more important. 

That seems to be the final statement needed to convince the former blue paladin. “Fine. Just, be careful out there. Red’s not always there to save your impulsive ass.” And finally the trademark smile is back on the boy’s lips. That’s the Lance he knows. 

Keith returns the smile with a smirk. “Noted. And you treat her with care. If I find a scratch on her I’m gonna kick _your_ sorry ass.”

“Excuse _you_ , Red and I are a great team. Best team ever. The people _love_ us.” And with that they’re back to their playful banter, which, Keith has to admit, he’s gonna miss. But that is something he won’t tell Lance, his ego is big enough. 

The device attached to his wrist beeps with a signal of Kolivan. It’s time to leave. “I need to go.”

And suddenly Lance’s smile is only half blinding, the sparkle in his blue eyes not so bright anymore. “Yeah.”

The silence is awkward. Neither of them seems to be sure how to say a proper goodbye. It’s Lance who ends up making the first move by lifting his arm up, offering a closed fist.

In the past Keith wouldn’t have know how to read his intention, but after spending so much time with his team, with Lance, his body moves on autopilot in a response. He bumps his fist against Lance’s, meeting his eyes. “See you later.” 

After a nod and similar words from Lance, Keith turns around to head to the hangar where a ship of the Blade is waiting for him. He doesn’t look back.

**Author's Note:**

> There. That’s something I wanted to see in the show (个_个)  
> Thanks for reading ♡


End file.
